


Two Halves

by janewithawhy



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, it's fluff, or slice of life idk, what the heck is the overwatch timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 11:51:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7360300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janewithawhy/pseuds/janewithawhy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hana manages to be insightful, Lena's got nostalgia, Fareeha is a good person, and Angela Ziegler has a pistol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Halves

**Author's Note:**

> @blizzard give me these character's sad backstories already

“You guys are like, two halves of one weird person.”

When Hana had said such a thing, little Lena Oxton and the regal Fareeha Amari couldn’t do much but look at one another with mirrored, confused faces, one looking up and the other looking down. Hana had laughed, then, all guttural and young and bubbly. Jokes came easy with Hana around.

“See,” she said. “You even wear the same faces.”

And then she’d walked away, blowing bubble gum, her head full of her most recent missions and ways to improve her aim. Two halves of one person? She had to be kidding.

“I think she’s drinking too much of that expired green stuff,” Fareeha said, watching the youngest teammate she’d ever had skip away. Everyone was fond of their little rabbit. Even if she was practically made up of mischief.

“Oh, come on, Fareeha! If I stood on your shoulders, I reckon we’d make one whole Reinhardt,” Lena laughed. “You’ve ever tried fitting yourself in that massive suit?”

Fareeha’s eyes gleamed.

“Not yet, I haven’t.”

“Come on, let’s go see if we can both fit in at once! Maybe Hana wants us to pilot a Reinhardt MEKA together. Heard they made old movies about that. Two people, one giant suit! Much bigger than Hana’s, you know. ”

If anybody went looking for them, they’d have seen tufts of brown hair and inky black locks sticking out of Reinhardt’s armored suit that day, the whole armory echoing with laughter. 

 

\-- 

 

The base doors were open and the team was doing practice runs out in the open. No new missions had cropped up for the riff raff that was the technically-not-regrouped, actually-not-totally-Overwatch team. Target practice, sprints, maneuvers — everyone was either rusty or learning new things or figuring out where they could use their old knowledge together. Lena was sitting on some supply crates, taking a rest from her bob-and-weave practice to get some much needed hydration. The sun was blazing down on them; they’d need a break soon or risk heat exhaustion.

Lena adjusted her goggles and leaned back on her elbows as she sat on the crates. Somewhere in the distance Reinhardt and Hana were trying to run circles around one another. Lena closed her eyes, trying to hear their laughter caught on the breeze.

The sound of jump jets caught her attention, though. The gleaming, metallic blue of Fareeha’s Raptora suit shot straight up into the air and Lena watched as the wings of it fought the air resistance and then stabilized as she began to hover down. All that blue and gold… Pharah looked like part of the brilliant sky as she strafed back and forth in the air then did a few turns before she landed, only to jump back up again. Even the spots where the paint chipped just made her look like a cloud laden sky.

“Pretty impressive, hmm?”

Lena craned her neck back farther to catch sight of an upside down Dr. Ziegler adjusting her gloves. Angela picked up her staff and took a few steps forward, allowing Lena to straighten her neck.

“Not gonna practice your aim, doc?” Lena joked. “Should really just turn that thing into a javelin, you know. Throw it right across an alley! Guess it’d be a bit dodgy though. Have to go and get it afterward.”

Angela smiled.

“Though I don’t like having to use the pistol, Lena, I think its chances of saving me are a lot better than throwing the Caduceus staff.”

“Oi, you won’t be needing saving with me around, Dr. Ziegler!” Jump jets went off again in front of them. “I suspect you won’t be needing any saving with Miss Amari around, too.”

Angela just smiled gently, the crows feet around her eyes deepening slightly. Lena watched her heft her staff at the ready, and with a motion that seemed like a leap that wouldn’t end, she was off in the air, chasing after Pharah with a beam of pale blue light between them. Lena stayed on the supply crates, looking up into the sky, watching as Fareeha and Angela became Pharah and Mercy, dancing in the sky together. A breeze swept through the grounds, rustling Lena’s hair, bringing the sound of Pharah’s jets with it.

She craned her neck to look up at the sky and closed her eyes. She could feel the wind in her hair, could see the brilliant, bright blue calling to her. Some people loved the ocean, but Lena had a fondness for the great open sky. She remembered her first flight, felt the ghost of her control wheel under her palms. Her feet twitched as she remembered the pressure of the rudder pedals against the soles of her shoes. Blue sky, nothing but blue sky and a smattering of white clouds.

In her bones, Lena could feel the pull of the sky. She’d learn to tone that magnetism down, like a faraway sound or a song you can’t seem to remember more than few measures of, but it was still there, in the twitch of her wrists, the way her eyes caught dials, the instincts she had and how she knew how to right herself when she was upside down in the air. She remembered all of those things. She remembered the rumble of an engine, the way the control wheel vibrated against her palms and spoke to her in a way nobody else had claims to. She remembered the feeling of g-forces against her body, straining against all physiological capacity to perform maneuvers nobody else dared.

She remembered the blink.

She remembered the moment it happened when the event horizon collapsed and reality twisted in on itself. She remembered the way everything pulled out from under her. She remembered the glitch.

Lena opened her eyes. Pharah and Mercy were still in the air, shooting across the sky with purpose, making sharp turns and double backs as practice. The sun glinted off of the gold of Pharah’s visor. Suddenly, Pharah made a mistake, turned too quickly, and collided with Mercy. Not too fast, but enough to break the doctor’s concentration, the Valkyrie suit’s Angelic Descent momentarily disabled. Lena saw pilot quick instincts kick in as Fareeha wrapped her arms around Angela, turn them in the air so that white was above blue, and shoot the last bit of fuel out her jet pack to land them safely. Nobody was hurt or startled, Fareeha just took her helmet off and apologized as Angela laughed.

They shot off into the sky shortly thereafter. Fareeha had left her vizor on the ground and she and Angela flew through the sky with grace, conversing lazily, getting the feel for the wind and hovering together, like it was normal to be in the air like that. Lena watched as Fareeha’s face turned to bliss as she closed her eyes to take flight. She watched as Fareeha reached the peak of her jump jet, leaned back, and plummeted to ground, only to pull herself out of the dive last minute, laughing as Angela shouted at her in words that made Reinhardt turn his head. She watched as Fareeha’s windswept hair tossed in the breeze and her laughter rang through the open air.

Lena thought about what Hana said and went back into base. 

 

\--

 

The tray dropped in front of her, nearly startled her, but not quite. Just enough to pause her fork’s ascent to her mouth.

“Mind if I sit, Miss Amari?” Lena asked, grinning, already taking a seat. She had a pair of aviators sitting on top of her head, her usual mission goggles probably up in her room.

“Miss Amari?” Fareeha asked, before continuing to eat.

“Yea, love,” Lena leaned in and dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “It’s what I got to call you in front of Dr. Zielger. Can’t have her go around thinking I’m the same 23 year old just joined Overwatch, now. Gotta act professional, ya know?”

Fareeha smiled. Overwatch.

“What was that like? Being on Overwatch?”

The smile on Lena’s face was a curious one, laced with a bit of of nostalgia, but not as wide as Fareeha would have thought, what with the way the girl went on about the good days of the organization. Lena tilted her head, as if in thought, as if remembering.

“Didn’t your mum ever tell you? Hope that’s not rude to ask, but might as well since we’re here,” she said finally.

“No, actually… I think a part of me always wanted to join Overwatch to be close to her,” Fareeha replied casually, like it was no big deal, like Lena had always known this. She passed her fork through her food, no longer hungry. “Overwatch was something I desperately wanted to be a part of but never got the chance. What was it that Hana called me? Oh yes, an ‘OP’d mall cop’ was her phrasing, I believe.”

Fareeha’s tone was light, joking as she spoke. She set her fork down and leaned back in her seat, cross her toned arms across her chest and looking at Lena.

“I always envied you, being so young and a core part of the Overwatch team,” she said. Lena was honestly flattered. It wasn’t often somebody with as much prestige as Fareeha Amari (and the legacy that came with her) told you that they were jealous of you. Lena scratched at the back of her head, embarrassed and blushing. She was never this flustered around anybody else, but she’d bet a few quid that a lot of people felt nervous and humbled when they spoke to Fareeha.

“It was… fun. It was family,” Lena said, honestly. She touched a finger to her chin, thinking. “It was important work that we did. And it was dangerous. I know all about that bit now, don’t I?”

Fareeha hummed. It was no secret what happened to Lena. She couldn’t exactly hide a bright blue ball of light strapped to her chest. And even if she could, with the way that Lena was, did anybody really think she wouldn’t use that thing to antagonize her enemies in the most grossly annoying way possible? She wasn’t sure what she was looking for when she’d asked the question, but Lena’s answer satisfied her. It was better than the hard looks her mother used to give her when she asked, the pursed lips and half-assed detractions.

“You never did get back into piloting after the incident, did you?” Fareeha asked. The shot of melancholy that tore through Lena’s face for a single instant was enough to make her wish she hadn’t asked at all, but in true Lena Oxton fashion, the look was wiped clean with a smile.

“Nope,” she said. “Can’t now. Due to my condition and all. Can’t be a pilot if you’re colorblind, got epilepsy, or could possibly phase out of time at any given moment, should a strange apparatus be knocked off your chest!”

Fareeha uncrossed her arms and leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand and peering at Lena. She liked this girl, this unstuck from time, giggling mess of a former Overwatch agent. Lena was one of those people Fareeha knew was worth protecting, but Lena didn’t need protecting. Lena did the protecting all on her own anyway.

“I can tell you miss flying,” Fareeha said.

“Being a second ahead of everyone isn’t exactly the same as piloting a plane! I miss being in the air. I miss piloting,” Lena said. She fiddled with her harness. “You would’ve been great at Overwatch.”

“There are still ways I can do what I believe Overwatch did.”

“That’s true! You’re here now! And we’re glad to have you!” Lena was always so expressive, something Fareeha found herself working on since they’d started working together. It was contagious and refreshing, so unlike what she was used to. Where order, dignity, and respect were her driving focuses, Fareeha had never held expression to be at the top of her priorities, but things had changed in the world — in her world. There was no need to posture in front of Lena. Nobody here expected Fareeha to be the ghost of her mother.

Maybe this isn’t what she’d expected: the brought-out-of-retirement 61 year old idol of Fareeha’s adolescence, the 19 year old, 3-time reigning champion of Starcraft II competitive gaming, the D.J. turned audio medic. But it worked. They worked. Maybe she didn’t have to feel like she’d missed out on Overwatch afterall.

Lena had started shoveling food into her mouth with such speed Fareeha was just short of impressed. Did this girl even know the word subtle? Fareeha grabbed her tray and stood, Lena’s eyes following her as she ate.

“Find me in the field when you’re finished,” Fareeha told her. She could learn things here, with these people. They might not be the Overwatch her mother had started, they might not even be Overwatch, but she was here and she was becoming more and more fond of this team of riff raff Lena sometimes referred to as her family.

 

\--

 

“Oi, you didn’t tell me we were gonna be running training exercises,” Lena called. Fareeha turned her head, glancing away from the low-hanging sun in the horizon. “Should I get changed? Always up for learning something new.”

Was it a trick of the light or did little Lena Oxton actually waggle her eyebrows at that? Fareeha shook her head.

“I was thinking about what you said,” Fareeha started. She pulled at the chest plate of her suit, adjusting it so it could settle in place, then twisted her wrists to make sure everything fit properly, comfortably. “About how you missed being in the air and piloting.”

She took a step over to Lena who seemed to freeze at the attention which just caused Fareeha to smirk. Reaching up, Fareeha took the aviators from Lena’s head and moved them to the bridge of her nose.

“Helix Security International would not approve of unauthorized use of the Raptora systems, so I can’t help you with piloting, but I can help you with being in the air.”

Her next movements were so sudden, it definitely caught Lena by surprise. Fareeha stooped down at the same time as she positioned her arms against Lena’s back and thighs and in the movement that would have had her standing, initiated her jump jets to launch the both of them into the air. Lena yelped with surprise, swearing through a list of phrases Fareeha was sure was product of Lena’s hometown. At the peak of the jump, Lena stilled. It was like Fareeha could feel the moment Lena looked out into the horizon and realized that she was in the sky.

To Lena, it felt like coming home.

“Wow,” she muttered, clutching to Fareeha’s neck. Fareeha initiated her hover jets expertly to stay in the air. “Not the same, is it? Seeing this view from a tower or something.”

“No, not at all,” Fareeha replied.

“You know, Angela doesn’t even like flying. Hates planes, she does, but don’t tell her I told you,” Lena said, chuckling and still looking out onto the horizon. Fareeha fluttered the hover jets, counting down in her head when she’d be able to initiate the launch again.

“Up we go,” she said, giving warning. Lena’s limbs were relaxed this time as they shot into the air once more, shouting her approval. They did this many more times, each time getting a little more mobile without toeing the line of dangerous. Lena was in capable hands.

Hana was standing by Angela at the doors of the base, listening to Lena laugh and shout, her tiny form shooting across the sky being held up by a blur of metallic blue. She popped a bubble.

“Looks dangerous, doc,” she said, shaking her head. “Kids these days.”

“Don’t be jealous for not getting attention, Hana,” Angela remarked, chastising gently.

“What?!” Hana stomped a foot. “I’m not—ugh! I am so not jealous.”

Angela chuckled, but never took her eyes off of the sky.

“They’re like puzzle pieces,” Angela muttered. She was thinking about the way Lena brought out the playful side of Fareeha Amari, how she seemed to do that with everyone here — soften the hardened edges like water to granite, slowly but surely.

“Two halves of one weird person.” Hana shifted her weight from one foot to the other, folding her arms across her chest. “Fareeha will never be part of the Overwatch Lena was part of and Lena will never be part of the air the same way Fareeha is, the way Lena was.”

“That’s true.”

“But they can at least help each other. Isn’t that what this new not-Overwatch is about?” Hana asked, this time turning to Angela for an answer.

“When did you get so insightful, Hana Song?” Angela responded, turning her gaze to the girl. Hana replied by waving a hand in front of her face and tossing her brown hair over her shoulder.

“Whatever _mom_ , how are you gonna help me out then, hmm? What am I gonna learn from you?”

One of Angela’s eyebrows almost twitched, but instead she put on a dangerous smile.

“Let’s start with manners,” she said. “And you can help me with target practice.”

Angela’s blaster seemed to materialize out of nowhere as it spun on her finger, but Hana was already running outside, shouting that she was just kidding about the mom comment and something about the Hippocratic Oath. A breeze carried Angela’s laughter up to Lena and Fareeha, and from the sky, they could see Hana trying to flag them down, waving her arms madly.

“Should we go save the poor girl from mum?” Lena asked. Fareeha chuckled.

“It would be the least we could do,” she said, before engaging the jump jet once more, straight for Hana.

They spent the next half hour until the sun went down taking turns riding into the sky in Fareeha’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and thanks @Overwatch for shooting me straight into multi-shipping hell where I belong.


End file.
